‘The Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway’ (or S.M.J.) was a small independent railway company which ran a line across the empty, untouched centre of England. It visited the counties of Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and a little of Buckinghamshire, only existing as the SMJ from 1909 to 1923. In 1923 the S.M.J.became a minor arm of the London Midland and Scottish (L.M.S.), then in 1948 'British Railways'

Gone but not forgotten: "the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth"

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NEW BOOK ON THE SMJ - AVAILABLE SHORTLY 24 Replies

Hi allI'm pleased to announce that the first volume of my history of…Continue

Started by Barry Taylor. Last reply by John Evans Dec 1.

John Jennings

Following the sad loss of John Jennings, a stalwart of the SMJ and our society, Mike Musson set up a page on his site. The whole sit is well worth a visit as it overlaps with us here at the SMJ society Go take a look…Continue

Started by Andy Thompson Nov 28.

The SMJR Great War Roll of Honour 12 Replies

Many of you will be aware that in common with all other railway companies the SMJR lost many of its employees for all or part of the Great War as the patriotic duty to volunteer was overwhelming. Railwaymen were technically exempt but many chose to…Continue

Tags: of, Honour, Roll, War, SMJR

Started by John Jennings. Last reply by Jim Brown Nov 23.

Warley Poster

Interesting to see Broom Junction layout photo on posters and adverts for the Warley Model Railway Show this weekend.Continue

Started by Dick Bodily Nov 21.

SMJ photos

Article in the Meccano Magazine (Aug 1956) describing the SMJR Railtour

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Permalink Reply by alwyn sparrow on November 11, 2014 at 19:04

Souvenir of that trip.

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Permalink Reply by Dick Bodily on November 11, 2014 at 20:15

Robin

Great stuff!

There's a famous photo of the Claud at Kings Cross complete with SMJ headboard. It appeared in the 1958 Observer's Book of Railway Locomotives of Britain. I wonder why it was taken off at Hitchin as Clauds sometimes ran through to Bletchley and where frequently seen at Northampton Castle in the late 50s, was there a problem? Do you have the date of this magazine so that I can add it to the list of articles on the appropriate webpage?

Dick

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Permalink Reply by Robin Cullup on November 11, 2014 at 23:00

Thanks for this, Dick. The article is in the August 1956 edition of Meccano Magazine (page 402) - I've seen (got) many photographs of 43222 on this special, but I've not seen this particular view before.

Robin

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Permalink Reply by Gary on January 16, 2016 at 14:35

The station is Byfield isn't it?
Great bit of history.

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Permalink Reply by Robin Cullup on January 16, 2016 at 15:26

The station is indeed Byfield.

There must have been many hundreds of photos taken of 43222 and train on the SMJ on this Sunday. What is perhaps amazing to us today is that the special ran on a Sunday meaning that several signal boxes must have been opened specially for the train to pass - would the railways go to that trouble and expense today? I doubt it.